Q2 Internet Radio review

Is this the world's most original radio?

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Our Verdict

For

Novel design

Good sound quality

Portable (within Wi-Fi signal)

No physical buttons

Against

Station changing is a bit of a faff

The Q2 brings the content-rich world of internet radio into your home with style. And because this button-free 10cm cube incorporates a rechargeable Li-ion battery you can take it outside, too – as long as your Wi-Fi coverage matches your territorial ambitions.

It's easy to use, thanks to an accelerometer similar to that built into the Wii controller. Placing the cube onto one of four sides selects a different station. Tilting the radio up or down adjusts volume, while the face-down position shuts it up.

And from a single charge, you can expect to get over 10 hours of moderate-level listening.

There are no physical buttons to trap dust or malfunction. The only switch, on the rear panel, turns the thing off altogether.

Alongside this are a small bass-reflex port and an earphone socket. Behind the speaker grille lurk LEDs showing power and connection.

Sound quality is great for the size. The Q2 goes far louder than expected, without unacceptable levels of distortion. Its speaker's range is unexpectedly wide, too.

If you don't like the swirly floral motif decorating our review sample, there's a choice of other patterns and styles available including plain white, black, or green, and a floral pink. Lovely.

However, you only get an immediate choice of four stations or podcasts from a choice of thousands. To change them, you have to plug the Q2 into a computer via its USB port, and use downloadable software to assign new stations to these 'presets'.